


any other way

by noirshitsuji



Series: wild hearts [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Finds Out, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Finds Out First, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has Realizations, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Angst, Episode: s01 Le Dessinateur | The Evillustrator, F/M, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Emilie Agreste, Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues, Jealous Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Lies, Physics, enemies au, one-sided Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 15:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30125052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noirshitsuji/pseuds/noirshitsuji
Summary: Later, Adrien will lie and say he lost Marinette in the alleyways and didn’t see where Ladybug had come from, and his father will believe him because Nathaniel had been too angry and hurt to see anything straight, and so it passes.(Except it doesn’t. It lodges itself into Adrien’s throat, a terror as soft as a cotton ball, and it stays there.)Enemies!AU. Adrien is too good at physics for his own good and Marinette happens to be too unobservant for either of theirs.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nathalie Sancoeur, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: wild hearts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023714
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53





	any other way

“Father,” Adrien says, throat dry, “why are you letting Nathaniel have this birthday party with Marinette? Surely it is a waste of time–”

Hawkmoth cuts him a cold glance that stops him dead in his tracks. His father then goes back to staring through the window, eyes unfocused the way they always are when he’s trying to keep track of an akuma.

(And, okay, Adrien isn’t worried about wasting time – actually, if time stopped right now and never started again, he’d be grateful for the disappearance of the infinite spiral he can feel himself going down – but he _is_ worried about Marinette. Sweet, charming Marinette, who always stutters around him and blushed so brightly when he gave her that umbrella–

 _–what was that thing about thunder again?_ )

“We are merely using her as bait for the Ladybug Miraculous, Adrien,” his father replies, still looking through the window and not at him. “I understand that you may feel sentimental as she is your classmate, but Nathaniel is enamoured of her and won’t harm her.”

 _But akumas conceived in anger–_ Adrien nearly says but bites his tongue before he can. He knows better than to push his luck. “Alright, father. Is there anything you’d like me to do in the meantime?”

“No, you are dismissed. Return to your studies and be at their meeting place at sunset.”

Adrien nods and turns to leave (his father isn’t looking at him, it doesn’t matter if Adrien’s eyes are on the off-side of respectful, one small rebellion won’t hurt–), passing by a stoic Nathalie at the elevator. She throws him a glance he cannot decipher.

He grins back, and maybe it is a bit more tightly than he should.

* * *

Ladybug isn’t there.

Marinette is laughing awkwardly at one of Evillustrator’s jokes as he draws musical notes on his tablet with inhuman speed and the fake full moon shines sharply above them and _Ladybug isn’t coming._

Chat is at the back of the boat, meant to be keeping watch from that side for when Ladybug shows up, except she _hasn’t,_ and anyway he can’t help but look over to where Marinette and _birthday boy_ are sitting to check that everything’s alright. So far, though, Nathaniel’s behaved the perfect gentleman, likely because he is, as his father said, _enamoured of her–_

(–he squashes that feeling in his chest, the poison and the light, and wills himself to _focus,_ wills Ladybug to _come,_ but she _doesn’t–)_

–he looks to the side where Marinette’s pointing over Evillustrator’s shoulder towards the Eiffel Tower. Chat has three seconds to process how quickly, how intently her gaze slides towards the _stylo_ in his hand before it’s suddenly not there and she’s jumping overboard towards the stone steps on the shore.

Chat blinks. 

Nathaniel shouts, his father’s voice somehow managing to boom through: _Catch her!_

And then Chat is off, vaulting over the boat, mind barely stringing together _Marinette_ and _Ladybug not showing up_ and _complot,_ but it still doesn’t make sense, Ladybug isn’t the type to put a civilian in danger as part of a plan, so why–

–Chat rounds a corner at the same time as Marinette turns the next one to his right. He immediately pivots on his heel to run back to the previous one and turn left to meet her at the other end of the square, right where–

–but she’s not there. Instead, Ladybug launches out of the alleyway Marinette went in, pen in hand, full speed towards the direction they came from.

Chat roots himself to the spot.

Physics is his favourite discipline, but Maths comes in a close second. It’s because they’re both so intuitive to him – he looks at a description of an object’s velocity and he can _picture_ it in his head, the motion, beautiful and clear, clearer than his father’s purpose or his own, clearer than–

–Adrien has transformed running before. He knows that Ladybug has the same velocity Marinette would’ve if she–

– _pain._ Dull, in his knees from where they’ve hit the ground. It makes him come to his senses; he shoots up and dashes towards the boat, but it’s too late: the akuma’s been defeated, Nathaniel’s on the phone with his _mère,_ apologetic expression on his face, and **she** is _gone._

Chat Noir melts back into the shadows and _runs._

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, if nothing else, rewatch things for the plot bunnies.
> 
> Let me know what you think of this in the comments – they truly make my day. You can also find me on [Tumblr](https://noirshitsuji.tumblr.com/).


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